The Orphanage
by CherryBerryPleo94
Summary: The once quiet orphanage where seveteen year old Edward has spent his whole life, is shocked by a blast from the past, throwing life into a spiral for all as dark secrets make themselves known. BellaxEdward


**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. Please read and review!**

**BPOV**

Chapter 1: News

"Oh, please, Bella, I want to come with you!" I'd been expecting her to ask again. This was already about the fifteenth time she'd begged me without actually falling to her knees at my feet.

"Alice," I complained. "I told you, this isn't some regular old class trip. This is a learning experience."

"I'll learn!" she shrieked. I rolled my eyes.

Alice had been my roommate at Dartmouth for over a year now. Among many things, she was my best friend. And as much as I wanted her with me for this trip, it didn't seem right for her to just invite herself.

She was helping me pack what little things I had. There was only one suitcase half-full sitting on my bed. But I figured I wouldn't need much where I was going. It wasn't as if I was going to be expected to dress up for dinner every night.

Alice tossed another unnecessary blouse into my suitcase. "Alice," I scolded.

She sighed angrily. "If you're going to be so against me coming, at least let me help you pick out decent clothes to wear."

I gave her a dark look. "I'll be in the south side of Chicago, Alice. I don't think anyone will care."

"Still. You never know what you might end up doing. Might as well prepare." She shrugged like it was just a normal thing to do. Maybe it was for anyone else; I never really took the time to think that far ahead into the future. Living in the present was the most I could ask from life.

I shook my head, but let her scalp through the limited wardrobe and grab anything she thought was appropriate. At least she wasn't begging me to come again. I loved Alice to death of course, but this just wasn't the place for her. I'd be in the darkest places in this country, seeing things she'd never seen. It wasn't safe. And I valued her life far much more than my own.

Just when I'd thought she'd forgotten the whole thing, she turned on me suddenly. "Oh, please, Bella. _Please?_ I'll talk to Ms. Esme. Please just let me come. I don't want you out there alone."

"I'll have Ms. Esme, Alice. I won't be totally alone." Ms. Esme was my Human Rights prof. She'd planned out this whole trip and she'd asked me very specifically if I was interested. We all knew her last name wasn't really Esme, but she never told us her real surname. We all just assumed she preferred her first name. I wouldn't be graded or anything, she just seemed to think that I would benefit the most from it. I knew why she hadn't asked her other students come, too. Most of the kids in my class were only there for the theory. The kids like Mike Newton or Eric Yorkie, who only seemed interested in finding out what was wrong with their world, never dared to put themselves in the place of someone who was suffering. I already had suffered. I could relate to people like that. And though I'd never given much thought as to how a month at an orphanage in Chicago would affect me, it had been the only thing on my mind through the last few weeks.

"I know, but Bella. What if you get bored, or lonely? What if you need new clothes? Or, um," she thought for a second. She seemed to be making this up as she went along. I sighed, as a light flashed in her eyes. "What if you get hurt? People might take advantage of you, Bella. You can't trust those kids; they've pretty much grown up without discretion."

I stared her down with disbelief. "The fact that you would say that is the exact reason why you can't come, Alice. We're not there to be social workers, we're there to learn. To experience."

That was when I saw the damn tears fill her eyes. Sweet heaven above.

"You just don't want me there," she sobbed. Oh, perfect. Now I was going to have to explain myself.

"Alice," I walked up to her to put my arm around her tiny shoulders. "It's not that I—," I caught my voice. I was going to say, 'It's not that I don't want you there, it's just that I don't know what things will be like.' But I changed my mind at the last minute. I looked at the pros and cons.

If she was there, I'd probably be happier, which was definitely a pro. I was rarely ever happy unless Alice was around. Also, she'd be someone to talk to that was my own age. Another plus.

On the con side, I couldn't trust Alice's tenaciousness. I feared that she might make a fool of herself in a place she didn't understand. But, that was just her persona. She was…bright. Maybe those kids needed someone bright. Because I sure wouldn't be much help with that. I'd probably make them all more miserable.

I knew I could still be professional with Alice around. She wouldn't be a disruption, and

Ms. Esme loved her. It really wouldn't be that hard to get her in even just two days before. She had enough money to pay for her own plane ticket, and she surely had enough clothes to be packed by the time we needed to leave.

Cons? I was at a loss. I could only find pros.

"You know what? I think you should come. Maybe you'll learn something."

I watched her eyes light up. "Oh, thank you, Bella! Thank you! I'll go talk to Ms. Esme right now. Thank you!" She kissed my cheek and darted out of the room.

I sighed, and turned back to my bag. It was still missing maybe a few outfits. After contemplating it for a minute, I shrugged. _Screw it, anyway. _I zipped it up and tossed it by the door, falling down on my bed. I fell asleep thinking of how happy Ms. Esme would be when she heard Alice was interested.

**EPOV**

Jazz was grinning with some kind of twisted excitement when he sat at our table in the dining room. We all knew what it meant. He had news to share.

Sure enough. "Guess what I heard?" he said in a slightly hushed voice.

That was one of the great things about Jasper. He knew everything before anyone else. It made up for the fact that he was literally crazy. When we'd been little, he'd been the smallest. Convenient for sneaking into small places to hear all the secrets. Six years at Cullen's Orphanage, and he still hadn't changed. Even when we'd gotten older, and Jazz and Emmett had developed and I'd become the smallest, Jazz never quite lost his sneaky ways.

Emmett was more curious than I was. Some of the Twerps at our table leaned in to hear. It was funny how much Emmett resembled them. I laughed under my breath, and took another bite of the almost-decent grilled chicken.

"What?" Em asked, grinning right along with Jazz. I saw the Twerps' eyes light up in anticipation.

"Hey, fuck off," Jasper said to the kids, looking about as big as a guy like him could. I saw little Sam—who I liked to think of as the leader of the Twerps—give Jazz a dirty look before he turned away. The other kids followed his lead, but none of them spoke. They were still waiting to hear.

Jasper rolled his eyes. "Anyways. I was walking past Cullen's office, and I heard him talking on the phone." He paused.

"And?" Emmett asked, expecting more. I saw some of the Twerps incline their heads so they could hear better.

"Apparently we're getting visitors in a couple days." He kept the grin planted on his face.

"Adopters?" one of the smallest Twerps, Collin, asked excitedly.

"I said fuck off," Jazz snapped, shoving the kid aside so that he fell off his stool.

"Hey!" Collin yelled, shaking out his hair, and getting back to his feet.

Jazz's eyes narrowed, and Collin's widened. "Sorry, sorry," he said quickly.

"That's what I thought," Jazz said coolly. "Now when I say fuck off, you fuck off, you hear?"

Collin nodded frantically. He was probably six or seven. Definitely one of the younger ones in the gang.

I rolled my eyes at the whole thing. None of us older guys much liked the Twerps. All the younger kids who never get adopted, they all tend to bunch together. And let me tell you, they can get as annoying and as conniving as hell. The little rascals.

None of them looked at us now.

"You were saying, Jazz?" Emmett prodded.

"Yeah, so. Apparently some chicks are coming from some smartass university to, er, what did Cullen say? 'Experience'?" He made little quotations in the air. "Something like that. But here's the good part." Something flashed in his eyes. This was definitely going to be good. "One of them is Ms. Esme."

I felt my jaw drop. Then I was laughing. 'Cause where was just no way in _hell_.

"I'm serious!" Jazz insisted. "I heard Cullen talking to her on the phone last night!"

"No way! Cullen's actually letting her in here? After what she did to us?" I demanded.

Jazz shrugged. "I don't think he ever believed us about that. And God knows he's in love with the cow."

"Ugh," Emmett grunted. "I lost my appetite." He pushed his tray away.

I grinned. It's definitely a bad situation when Em loses his appetite.

"Damn." I shook my head. "This should be interesting."

I looked to my right to see every last one of the Twerps looking at us in horror. Served them right.

**There's your first chapter. Review ya'll! I'll answer some unanswered questions if you do ;D**


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